The Chambersburg boys basketball team was looking to gain a bit of momentum heading into the postseason.

Collin Farnham and the Mechanicsburg Wildcats had other ideas.

Farnham scored a game-high 23 points - 12 from beyond the arc - and the visiting Wildcats outlasted the playoff-bound Trojans 51-47 in quadruple overtime Wednesday night in a non-league regular-season finale for both teams.

"This just shows the heart and character of my kids," Mechanicsburg coach Bob Strickler said. "My seniors are absolutely unbelievable and I hope this isn't the last time I get the chance to be their coach - but if it is, what a way to go out."

In the fourth overtime, the 5-foot-9 Farnham hit two free throws to put the Wildcats ahead for good 49-47 after the teams traded baskets. Drew Schankweiler, who finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds, made two more foul shots to make it 51-47 with five seconds left.

That allowed Mechanicsburg (11-11) to escape with only its second win in the last six games.

Strickler said, "You need an MIT degree to figure out the power ratings, but we did everything we could do, barring Monday night (a 60-51 loss to Lower Dauphin). We may not get in, but I feel like we deserve to be a District 3 playoff team."

Zach Brunner added nine points and 12 rebounds for the Wildcats, who converted only 13-of-54 attempts (24.1%) from the field. Mechanicsburg made up for its shooting troubles by capitalizing on 18 Chambersburg turnovers and going 21-for-31 at the free-throw line.

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"We didn't come to play tonight," Trojan coach Beau Gantz said. "I mean instead of concentrating on this game, they're busy reading the newspaper about what seed we're going to be. I knew it was going to be a dogfight and we just weren't focused."

Chambersburg, which finished the regular season averaging 51.8 points a game, appeared on its way to an easy victory until Farnham scored 10 points in a 12-2 run that gave the Wildcats a 32-31 lead with 2:29 remaining in the third quarter.

But Kellen Williams, who scored 20 points, answered with a 3-pointer and another three by Tay Charles gave Chambersburg (14-8) some breathing room.

Then the Trojans simply went cold, shooting only 23 percent from the floor over the next 21 minutes.

Gantz said, "I don't want to take anything away from them (Mechanicsburg), but we just didn't play well. We turned the ball over 18 times and we shot only 4 of 15 from the free-throw line."

Chambersburg used a 10-1 run midway through second quarter to get control, taking a 28-17 lead at halftime. Williams' free throw put the Trojans up 29-20 before Farnham began to rally the Wildcats. He hit consecutive layups to trim the deficit to 29-26, then buried back-to-back 3-pointers to give Mechanicsburg a one-point lead. The senior's long 3-pointer with 59 seconds left in regulation capped a 6-0 spurt and tied the contest at 39-39.

"Collin needed four 3-pointers to break the school record and I tried not to tell him," Strickler said. "He knew he was close and I think that was weighing on his mind a little bit early. They also ran Williams at him and Williams is a good defender - he's a lot stronger than Collin, who grew up as our ballboy many years ago. He's grown up within this program and you want to talk about leadership, he's given us everything he possibly can."

Chambersburg, which shot 36.4 percent overall, controlled the boards, outrebounding the Wildcats 33-28, including 12-8 on the offensive glass.

Evason Ogbonna added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Trojans. No other Chambersburg player had more than seven.